Counting The Seconds to Doomsday
by Wolflmg
Summary: Jen encounters a mysterious man, but can he be trusted? Pasts and futures will collide, secrets will be revealed, one that tells of the darkest days of an unthinkable future, that lays near.
1. Encounter of The Stranger

**Authors note:** This is somewhat a sequel to my last story 'I Walk Alone' It is not really important that you read it, as this story can be read separate from it. Only a few characters in this story are relevant to 'I Walk Alone' These characters will be explained within the story.

* * *

A cloaked figure has hid face hidden in the shadows in the dusk of night. The only light is the bright orange glow coming from the fire before him. He stands there listening to the crackling of the fire, as the cool breeze brushes against him causing his cloak to rustle against the wind. He is unbothered by the cold breeze, as if he isn't even aware of it. The cold is not of his concern, it does not matter.

After several long moments the cloaked figure pulled a book from his cloak. The book was old and worn. Part of the cover was missing and several page appeared to be ripped and torn. The book looked, as if it had been from hell and back and there and back again. The cloaked figure opened up the book, as his eyes glared down at the hand written pages. …For that moment time seemed to stand still.

_What if you knew the future? What if you knew of a terrible tragedy that was forthcoming? One that the death toll was so astronomical, that it couldn't even be determined? A tragedy that it would take decades, centuries even, to recover from. What if you knew the exact date and time that linked it all together? Wouldn't you try to prevent this impending catastrophe from ever happening? Wipe it from history, rewriting what was already set in stone. Change destiny…._

_But changing destiny is not as simple as it sounds. Destiny isn't clear cut and something that can be bended to your will. It cannot be shaped. It cannot be manipulated. In cannot be controlled or contained…There are no guarantees. One destiny would not be the only one affected. We all effect destiny, not just our own._

_You'd tell yourself that it would be for the greater good, preventing such a terrible tragedy. You'd be saving lives, futures, whole beginnings... Everything._

_It wouldn't have to happen. It wouldn't have to come to pass. It never would have existed. Never be…._

…_.At least that is what you'd like to believe, but sometimes things are not as simple, as we like them to be. You can't change something, without changing something else. One change will cause something to happen in its place. It may not happen right away, but over times that 'change' that counter-reaction, alteration will come into play. Every act, every change, cause's a chain-reaction and sometimes that result can be far worse then what was to be._

The cloaked figure tossed the book into the fire. Watching as the pages and the words withered away into the flames. No other soul would ever know the words that it held. They would be forever lost in the flames. Only _one_ other knew the words it contained, they were his words and he has long been dead.

_**BANG! **_The cloaked figure looked up, as a heavy rain poured down on top of him drenching his cloak, but he didn't seem to mind. A heavy smog of smoke surrounded around the fire, as thunder roared loudly and lighting flashed into the night. The cloaked figured returned his concentration back to the fire, watching as the last few words embellished into the flames.

_I only hope that the truth will not become __**death…**__._

The cloaked figures eyes remained content his body unmoving until every single page; every word, every piece that ever was, was no more. The information it held was far too dangerous. It should never have been written. Never should have existed. It shouldn't have, allowed to be. Only after the book had been destroyed did he turn away and walked off into the night never to be seen again….

* * *

**Some days later….**

"Hey there sweetie," Jen smiled, as she knelt down before her husband Wes's grave on that Sunday afternoon, as she set down red and pink roses. They were the same roses she had been placing down for years. _Years…_

It seemed hard to believe that he had been gone for twenty one years, but it had been that long. He had been gone for over two decades and not a day had gone by that she didn't think of him. Wondering what their life would have been like if he hadn't been killed. Would he still be a ranger? Would he be fighting along side with their sons? Would they of had more children? Would he have liked being a grandfather to their grandson Ryan? She tried not to let these questions enter her mind, but some days she couldn't help it.

"The boys are doing well," she smiled faintly, grateful for the two sons he had given her, a gift she would treasure for the rest of her days. "I don't think it'll be long before they're both settled down. The Commander offered Sky the position of Commander; he's planning on leaving earth in a few years to become the Supreme Commander, after Birdy retires. I think he's going to take Cruger up on the offer, but he has a little while to think about it. Right now I think he's just enjoying being a father to his son." Sky had grown up a lot in the past several months, something that hadn't been easy, but he had taken it on head on and come out on top.

"Ally and him, have been seeing each other for a while now, it was a rocky start at first, but I think their bond to Ryan was what pulled them together. I think she's good for him, he needs a girl like her in his life." She may not have been the one he had planned on falling for, but sometimes the things we don't ever plan on our the best things that happen to us.

"…And then there is Griffin. He's the spitting image of you. He's kind, funny, and a bit childish-"

Unbeknown to her a young man in his late twenties-early-thirties stood a good distance away near some trees and larger grave stones watching her closely. He was handsome, well built, but there seemed to be this inner darkness about him. His dark eyes narrowed in on her in a stalking prey sort of way. Everything was on the line. He could end it all here and now. It was important that he accomplished what he had come to do, if he failed. _I can't! _…._He could not fail,_ that wasn't an option for him. "I cannot fail. It must be done!" He dug his hand into his jacket slowly pulling out a shiny gun, getting ready, finger wrapped around the trigger, his eyes remained fixed on the woman who was before him. He fingers were pressed against the trigger. It would all be over soon. One quick, point on shot and it would be done.

.It was then, in that mere moment of seconds that he realized the soft sweet singing from the birds and the whistling of the wind had vanished. It was quiet, _too_ quiet, even for a commentary. _Something's wrong!_ His heart began racing.

He started scanning the perimeter of commentary taking in all of its surroundings, He closed his eyes, as if he were trying to see with his ears, blocking out everything, trying to hear what he could not see. _CLICK! _"He's here!" his eyes snapped open. He would only have one shot to get this right, one false move and it all would have been for nothing. The young man started running towards the woman.

Jen smiled faintly, as she ran her hand over Wes's grave. His life has been cut too short, as he had left her behind to raise their two sons alone. He hadn't died in vain, many were alive today because of him, but that hadn't made losing him any easier. "I know that I should-"

"Get down!"

Jen had no time to react, as a young man not much older then her son Sky shoved her to the ground putting his whole body right on top of her. "What the hell do you think your doing!" she roared.

"No time, to explain!" he exclaimed. "We have got to get out of here, right now."

"Oh, you're going to explain alright," exclaimed Jen, as she shoved the man off of her. Seconds later, a shot blazed right passed her ear, then hitting Wes's grave stone and taking a chunk out of it. Her heart began racing, as she searched around for a shooter, but saw no one. "What the hell is going on?"

"I told you, we have to get out of here," he remarked harshly as he grabbed a hold of her wrist tightly and pulled her to her feet, as he started running as fast as he could, almost dragging her along in the process, as another shot went by, this time clipping him in the shoulder. He only grunted in pain, as he kept on moving, never looking back. He had to get her out of here and somewhere safe.

A shadow approached the grave stone where the two had been only moments ago. He watched, as the young man ran as fast as he could, pulling the woman along side of him towards her car. The shooter pointed his large blaster gun towards them, looking through the scope, he had a perfect shot. "You live for now," he said to himself, taking his finger off the trigger, as the young man shoved the woman into her car. "But mark my word the next time we meet you won't be so lucky. You will pay for your crimes." He watched, as the car sped off down the road disappearing into the distance.

"What the hell was all that back there?" exclaimed Jen, as she turned to the man that had practically taken her hostage.

"And I thought it was obvious," he remarked, as he came up to a red light forcing him to come to a stop. The last thing he needed was to drawl any attention to himself. He did a quick looking in the rear view mirror to make sure that the shooter hadn't followed him. They would be safe for now, but he knew that sooner or later he would be back. "I just saved your life. You should be thanking me," he turned to her.

"Thanking you?" she exclaimed. "For all I know it was you they were after, not me."

"Right," he smirked sarcastically, as the light turned green. "You were just an innocent bystander. No one would have any reason to use you as target practice, while you're visiting your husband's grave."

"And when did I say it was my husband's grave?"

"You didn't."

Jen didn't like his tone or attitude. "Who are you?" She demanded, as she looked him over. He wore dark pair of kaki pants along with a belt that contain a gun holster, a grey-blue shirt, a black leather jacket, and sunglasses. She knew he wasn't one of her Silver Guardians, nor one of Silver Hill Police Officer and she was fairly certain he was not SPD.

He remained silent, as he found a mall parking-lot full of cars. He pulled in and parked the car in-between a red truck and a blue minivan. The last thing he wanted was to be out in the open. He shut off the engine, as he turned to face Jen who hadn't taken her questioning eyes off of him. Questions he knew he was going to have to answer.

"You're not from around here are you?" Jen annouched, perhaps she had known the moment he had shoved her into her own car driving off, not seeming to care what direction they went into only that they got as far from the shooter as possible.

He turned to her questioningly. "And where do you think I'm from?"

"Don't play games with me, kid," she snarled. "It's obvious you know who I am, so why don't you cut the bullshit and tell me who you are and what's going on."

"Alright, we'll play it your way. …You're Jennifer Collins, before that Jennifer Scotts."

"Anyone that knows my works with Bio-Lab could tell you that."

"I'm sure they could," he smiled. "…But I bet they don't know that your from the year 3001, a Time Force Officer who was killed while trying to arrest three fugitives." He looked her right in the eyes, as if staring deep within her soul. "You look pretty good for someone that's supposed to be _dead_."

Jen felt a shiver go down her spine. The last thing she needed was her past coming back to haunt her. "Sorry, but I think you've got me confused with someone else."

"You can deny it all you want, but we both know that I'm right. You are the Jennifer Collins born in 2980 and believed to have died in 3001, or if we want to get technical in 2002, which is the year that you followed the mutorgs to."

There would be no lying, no trying to come up with a reasonable answer to get her out of this. He had down his homework. She had no choice, but to admit to him who she was. There was nothing she could say or do, to make him think otherwise. "Nice detective work _Sherlock_, so I didn't die on the mission like it says in my file. What are you going to do about it, take me back?" she demanded, as she crossed her arms against her chest darting her eyes right at him.

"I'll tell you right here and now I'm _not _going back." There would be hell to pay before anyone took her back, taking her away from her children and grandson. This was home. She couldn't leave, not now. Maybe if someone had shown up after Wes had died, maybe then things would have been different, but not now.

She had built a life her. Her children had built lives and they have no idea that their mother came from the future. She never told them for their own protection they could never know the truth about how they really came to be.

"Bringing you back was never part of the mission, as far as Time Force is concerned Jennifer Scotts, has been dead for thirty years,"

"But they did send you?"

"Sorry, that's classified."

Something just wasn't adding up here. His answer didn't seem all that convincing to the former Time Force officer. Jen knew there was no way Time Force would have sent an officer here on unofficial business. Time Travel was serious business; no one could just jump through time for the fun of it. There had to be a reason why he was here and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Why are you here?"

"I already told you, it's classified."

"I'm Time Force, you have to tell me!" she exclaimed, as he eyes narrowed back at him.

"No, you were Time Force, now you just a civilian …and then there is that little fact that Jennifer Scotts, no longer exists in the ranks of Time Force."

"Then what were you doing in the commentary?" she asked. "You can at least tell me that."

"Paying my respects, to Wes Collins."

"Why?" she questioned. "You didn't know him."

"One doesn't have to know one, to pay their respects. Your husband was a great man. He did a lot for the future."

"Alight I'll give you that. I still don't buy it as being the real reason why you were there, but for now I'll accept that."

"You must be a _real_ fun person to get along with."

"I imagine some would say the same thing about you."

"Oh I'm a real fun person to get to know, if you give me the chance," he remarked in cocky sort of way.

"I bet," answered Jen in an irritated sort of way. "Don't suppose you can tell me who was shooting at us?"

"I was kind of hoping you could tell me?" He said as he gripped the shoulder where he had been shot at. "You piss anyone off lately. Anyone that would want to take a head shot at you?"

"No!" She looked him hard in the eyes. "What about you? Is there anyone that wants to take a shot at the smug face of yours? Maybe some pissed of girlfriend?"

He laughed. "You know you're kind of cute when you're angry."

"You know if you don't stop it with the wisecracks, I just may start taking head shots."

"Hmmm sounds like fun…" He could already see her eyes start to fume with anger, telling him that he better stop otherwise it would ruin everything. "Al-alright." He raised his hands up. "I'm done, you win. You can ask me anything you want and I'll do my best to give you an answer that won't jeopardize my mission here."

She wasn't hundred percent sure if she trusted his answer, but it was better then nothing. "Where's the time ship?" The last thing she needed was for that to be out in the open for anyone to stubble upon.

"On a deserted beach. ….Well, what's left of it anyways, it was destroyed when I went in for the landing, so if your worried about it falling into the wrong hands, don't" he explained. "Anymore questions?"

"What did you say your same was again?"

"Nice try, but you've got to do better then that."

"Hey I thought we had an agreement!" Jen could feel her blood start to boil. The more this guy opened up his mouth the less she was starting to like him. "Because, I've had it up to here with your wisecrack answers. You better start explaining yourself or-"

"-O'Connor," he answered, finally telling her his name. "Gage O'Connor, Time Force Sergeant." He took of his sunglasses, as put out his other hand looking Jen in the eyes. "It is an honor to meet you. The Captain always spoke very highly of you."

"Captain Logan?" Jen shook his hand, but almost like in a trance, as if she somehow felt drawn to him. She didn't know what it was, but there was something about him. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"No, by the time I transferred Captain Logan was no longer there. He had retired."

That did make since Captain Logan would be retired, probably had been for a number of years. Although O'Connor has not said which year he had come from and Jen wasn't sure if he would even tell her if she asked. He didn't seem the type to give straight answers. Since he had brought up the new Captain of Time Force talking about her, she decided that she could at least get a straight answer out of this. There was only one other person who she could think of that would have become Captain after she had left, but after everything that had happened between them she wasn't so sure if he would openingly talk about her, to anyone… "Alex Drake?"

"Alex Drake?" He looked into her eyes, as trying to get a feel for what this guy had meant to her, it was clear that there had been some history between her and this Drake guy. "…No, he's not the Captain." He shook his head.

"He's not?" Jen questioned, kind of shocked. She would have thought that out of all the officers at Time Force and given his accomplishments, that he would be the number one choice for Captain. Who better to serve as Captain of Time Force, then the best of the best? It just seemed hard to believe that he wasn't the Captain, for as long as she had known Alex that was what he had been working towards.

"No. He's no longer with Time Force," he licked his lips. "By the time I joined he was long gone."

"Gone?" She found it hard to believe that Alex would have just left Time Force. Time Force had been his life. It had meant everything to him. That had been one of the reasons why things had fallen apart between them, because of his high devotion and not seeming to care about how his work behavior affected the relationships around him. "What do you mean? Did he transfer somewhere else, one of the other bases?"

She thought maybe he moved on to bigger and better things. He always acted as if there were bigger and better things for him to be doing, as if he had a higher calling. A calling she had wanted to be part of it, but he had kept her at a distance.

"No, he didn't," he bowed his head down, as if he wasn't sure how to tell her. He took a deep breath finally gather the strength, as he turned to her once again. "He's dead, I'm sorry."

"_Dead_?" Jen had to play the word over and over in her head to get it to stick. It just didn't seem real. She didn't want to believe it, but the look in the young mans eyes, told her it was true. "Dead? W-when? How?"

"Twenty-three year ago, in an explosion." Gage seemed awkward talking about Alex Drake. He had not come here to discuss the death of Alex Drake, that wasn't what was important. There were far more pressing things to attend to then an officer who had died over two decades ago. "We should really get you somewhere safe, that shooter is still on the loose."

Jen was still trying to grasp the fact that Alex was dead. Died before his time, but then again she knew all too much about those going before their time. How many have she seen taken before their time? How many lives cut too short? Maybe it shouldn't seem so unreal that Alex had died so young, perhaps deep down even when the two had been together she knew that was a strong possibility that he would die young. There was always this look of death in his eyes, as if even he knew he would die young. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "….Did you know him?" she asked, as he pulled out of the parking-lot.

He didn't turn to face her, only kept his eyes on the road. "No, I didn't know him at all," he answered softly.

There was something about the way he said it. That it was supposed to mean something, but Jen got the impression that the young man didn't want to talk about it. She would let it go, for now, but eventually she would want to know what he had meant. "You never said who it was," she annouched, after several minutes of silence.

"Who?" he asked, as if his mind was somewhere else.

"The Captain, that told you about me. You never said who it was."


	2. Questions Arise part 1

**3028**

"The Captain will see you now, Sergeant O'Connor," annouched the woman who was sitting at the desk.

Gage nodded his head, as his eyes turned towards the Captain's office door. He got up from the seat he had been sitting in making his way over to the door. He briefly turned to the woman sitting at the desk. "Good luck," she told him before he opened the door and entered into the room.

Inside Gage saw that the Captain had his back to him and appeared to still be on the phone. He didn't seem too offended by it, as he took this time to get to know his surroundings, as if he were trying to get a feel of just who the Captain was. The desk was neatly organized, everything had a place even the large pile of files were neatly stacked.

The room was well decorated giving Gage the sense that his wife may have decorated the room, as if he could almost feel a woman's touch to the room. He walked over to the far right side wall where a few photos and a couple plaques. The first plaque he looked at was of an award, **3006 Racing World Tour 1****st**** place. **The other plaque was for **3010 Awarded to an Officer that had gone up and beyond his duty. **Next to the mounted plaque, was a news paper clipping, but Gage moved passed it not reading the clipping. His eyes fell onto a photo of the Captain and a young man standing next to him wearing a Time Force uniform.

"That's my son, Jared," annouched the Captain. "If things go right, I was thinking of having the two of you assigned together."

Gage turned to the Captain with almost a cunning smile. "Well then I guess I have my work cut out for me, if I want this transfer to work out," answered Gage, as he walked up to the Captain. "It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. I have heard a great many good things about you from Captain Blanka."

The Captain reached out and shook the young sergeant's hand. "Please have a seat."

Gage followed his lead taking a seat right across from the Captain. "You must have been one hell of a race car driver," he annouched pointing over to the award hanging on the wall.

"Oh, my wife keeps putting that _old _thing back up," he replied, acting as though he didn't he care. "I must have taken it down twenty times." He didn't know what the young office before him was getting at with wanting to talk about some old award. He hadn't raced in over twenty years. "…Anyways, were not here to talk about me, were here to talk about you," he exclaimed, in a slightly harsh tone. 'So if you're finished, I would like to begin."

"Of course, I meant nothing by it, sir."

The Captain didn't respond, as he briefly searched through his stack of files, before pulling out Gage O'Connor's. He did a quick look over the file checking over his own notes. "I must say O'Connor; your file is very impressing. One of the best I have seen in a long time. All your scores are beyond what is required and your recommendations are close to a mile long." He looked up eying the man across from him. "It's almost too perfect."

Gage smiled faintly. "I've had my fair share of practice."

The Captain nodded his head and set the file off to the side. "It's no question that with your skills and level of training that you would fit in just fine here." He folded his hand together. "But why Time Force, when your abilities would be better suited for the Galactic Space Defenders." The G.S.P. was where the best of the best belong to. Only few ever passed the training course to join the galaxy's best defense force. Gage O'Connor fit every profile of what a Galactic Space Defender needed to be.

"You are correct to believe that I probably do belong with the Galactic Space Defenders and perhaps one day I will, but for the time being I feel my calling is here. I feel like I can do a lot of good here." He smirked. "….And just maybe it was always a dream of mine ever since I was a boy to serve under the blue Time Force Ranger."

The Captain got a chuckle out of that. He _hadn't_ heard that one before. "Trying to suck up to the Captain, to get some points huh?"

Gage laughed. "If it helps."

The Captain leaned back in his chair. "I don't know what it is, but I like you O'Connor." He did a quick look over the file, before turning his attention back to the man across from him. "What can you tell me about your family? It doesn't say much in your file."

"Not much to tell." He answered all too quickly, but quickly covered it with another response. "I've been in military schools since I was a boy, having lived on a few different planets."

"Yes." It was all there in black and white. O'Connor had more military training then most of the office that walk through the halls. He had enrolled into the Stargate Military School for Boy's at the age of eight and continued to spend the rest of his years moving up in military schools as he grew older.

He wasn't sure how the young man would react to his next comment, but he needed to ask. He needed to know what O'Connor's reaction would be. "I read in your file that your family died in some type of accident, an explosion?"

O'Connor didn't give much of a reaction almost as if he were expecting it to come up at some point in the interview. "Yes. It was some electrical problem, took out the whole house. I was outside with the family dog. We were living on Eltar then." He could see that the Captain was trying to get a sense of his thought process his state of mind. "…But, that was a long time ago," he answered, making sure to look the Captain right in the eyes with that last response.

"Yes, it was." The Captain nodded his head, as if he understood. "Well… I think Time Force, would be grateful to have a man of your standards on board." He reached into his desk and then held out a Time Force badge to Gage. "Welcome to the family, O'Connor."

"Thank you, sir," annouched Gage, as he proudly took the badge from the Captain. "I promise you, I won't let you down."

**3032 ….few days before Gage encountered Jen**

"_I promise you, I won't let you down."_

He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want it to be true, but the evidence didn't lie. It was clear as day, staring him right in the face. He even had the video checked over and checked over again to see if it had been tampered with in anyway, but to his disappointment it hadn't been. What he saw before him was the truth. Gage O'Connor his most prized, his most trusted Officer is seen tampering with one of the bases main control panels, that initiated a program, a program even his best technician couldn't break.

"I'm sorry, sir," the technician, turned her chair around to face the older man before her with short black-grayish hair. "But the program that Sergeant O'Connor, put into the system I can't get a handle on it. The only good thing is all the other systems are fine, but we can't-"

"Can't contact him and have no idea where he went with that time ship." _Damnit! _And if that wasn't bad enough, they couldn't send anyone after him or even track where he had gone. Time travel was unoperational. "How could he have even entered such a program? I don't even see him holding computer to send in the program."

"That's because he didn't," answered the technician. "That's the interesting part."

"What do you mean?" asked the Captain.

"The program was already in the system. All he did was entered in a code and that activated the program."

"But only I, high ranking veteran officers and a few high tech-executives know the codes." Gage O'Connor, though one of his best still did not have clearance to knowing such codes, not even his own son did. "And even if he managed to get his hands on the code, we should still be able to unlock what he did." There was such a code that would shut down time travel function, for emergency reasons, but in case an officer was still on a mission contact would still remain active and the location of where the time ship was would be known, even if the time ship had been damage or destroyed they would still have that information, unlike what was happening now. It didn't make any since.

"I'm not so sure he entered in one of our codes." She couldn't know for sure, O'Connor was very careful to hide what he had entered on the control panel keeping the exact sequence hidden. "I don't even think he meant for it to get on camera, look…" She played the video over again and froze it at the point that he entered into the room where O'Connor is looking at the camera that is looking to opposite direction. "Now according to camera logs, he has exactly thirty seconds until it will face him for the next thirty seconds." She starts the video again, just as O'Connor begins to step forward towards to control panel, but he stops suddenly and turns his head towards the way he came in. She stops the video.

"Why'd you stop there?"

"I didn't notice it right away, it's hard to see, but there's a shadow. And by the look on O'Connor's face, he looks like he's seen a ghost." It took several times of watching the video over and over to finally catch it. She couldn't understand before how O'Connor would have been so careless to get caught on camera. It was then she noticed him stopping briefly and that when she noticed the shadow, a shadow that apparently was enough to change O'Connor whole demeanor, as he no longer cared if the camera caught him, as if the shadow was of a great threat to him.

The Captain leaned forward and sure enough there is a shadow, it was hard to make out but it was there. "Could be one of the Officers passing by, checking to see what he was doing, may have spooked O'Connor." He didn't seem to think much of it, there was always someone walking throughout the hall. It could have been anyone.

"Your probably right, but…" She started the video again, just having this feeling that something more was going on here. They watched as O'Connor turned back to the door way and quickly closed the door temporally locking it behind him. He then rushed over to the control panel and quickly entering in the code, making sure that the code he entered could not be seen on camera. "There's just something about his manner, that doesn't make since."

The Captain had to admit the woman had a point. Something about it didn't make since, O'Connor had started off not wanting to be seen at all. That all change when he got the instinct that he was being followed by this shadow. His next action is to lock the door with his key card. And he know full well that O'Connor knew that if it was one of the Time Force Officers they could have easily unlocked the door and gotten inside the room. That didn't happen. The whole time O'Connor was in the room the door remained locked.

After the code had been entered, they watched as he quickly removed one of the underground panels to some underground route that even he didn't know existed. He had one of his officer go through it and it went straight to the time ship shuttle bunker. This was another thing they were having trouble explaining.

"How did he even know that underground route was even there?" He knew in the pit of his stomach that O'Connor couldn't have just gotten lucky, somehow he had know that was there and where it led to. "…And for that matter that it went right where he wanted to go?" There were just so many unanswered question that he didn't even know where to begin and something told him the deeper he would get into this the more questions he would have.

"I don't know sir," answered the woman. She truly did wish she could answer all of his questions, but she couldn't. She couldn't even decode what O'Connor had done and that was what she had been hired to do. "That underground layer doesn't even show up in the bases blueprints." According to the blueprints the underground layer should even be there, it should be nonexistent.

That didn't make him feel any better. How was it, a transfer from four years ago, knew something about the base that no one else knew about? Time Force Headquarters had been built over a hundred and fifty years ago and no one until now knew about the under ground hidden route in the floor, as far as he knew anyways.

"How do you suppose he was still able to travel through time after he had entered in the code?"

"He must have had it on a count down, so that after he went through we would have no way of establishing any type of communication."

It didn't make him feel any better knowing that O'Connor had planned it all down to the very last detail. He liked to think O'Connor had a good reason for doing what he did, but he could find no reason that made any since. There had been no prison breaks and never once in all the times he had spent time with O'Connor had there been any indication that something like this would happen.

…And yet, as much time as he had spent with the young Officer, he knew very little about him outside what he knew from his transfer records. He knew where he got his training from, what his scores were and his achievements and accomplishments as an officer. Now that he thought about it O'Connor had kept his personal life pretty private, never talking much about himself, his past, nothing. His family was barely even mentioned in his transfer records. He had asked O'Connor about it a few times, but he always received the same answer ..._it was a long time ago_.

And as he recalled that had been one of the reasons his own daughter had broken up with O'Connor, because of his unwillingness to open up to her. He had never really thought much of it, as much as he had liked O'Connor, he'd rather not have his daughter date one of his officers. Now he was beginning to question if there had been red flags all along.

-_He _was headstrong about joining with Time Force and no where else, even though his skills would have been better suited for a higher calling.

_-He_ never wanted to talk about his past or his family, as if he had something to hide.

_-He _always would always stay after hours, not having much of a life outside of Time Force.

Those had been the red flags. The reason why he had been so insisted to join with Time Force was so he would have access to the time ship. He never talked about his past, because he probably is not who everyone believed him to be. The working after hours for the last four years would have given him more then enough time to walk the whole base. He probably found that underground layer years ago and was just planning to make his move.

Gage O'Connor had fooled everyone, including him. The Captain sighed heavily, as he started backing out of the room. "See what else you can find out," he annouched. "I'm going to go contact Captain Blanka on KO-35 he was O'Connor superior, perhaps he can shed some light on things." At least he hoped he could, that was his only link at getting any information on O'Connor's past.

**Half hour later…**

"_I am sorry to inform you Captain Kendal, but we have never heard of a Gage O'Connor. I've check over the records three times, going as far back as ten years. According to our records no Gage O'Connor ever existed in our records."_

_Ever existed! _"That can't be possible!" exclaimed Captain Kendal, as held up the transfer records that had Captain Blanka signature written clearly on the packet of papers. "I'm holding his transfer records right now, with your signature of authorization." He then placed them in a slot on the computer and sent a copy to General Blanka.

'_I am just as surprised as you are Captain, but you have my word that I signed no transfer papers for a Gage O'Connor, the last transfer I sent you was Julie Locke from four years ago."_

Lucas Kendal was just so bewildered, he couldn't believe it. Was he hearing things right? How could this be? "You don't remember me contacting you four years ago about the transfer? It was on…." He quickly looked over the file. "May 8th 3028." He clearly remembered that just a couple hours after his meeting with O'Connor that he had contacted Captain Blanka letting him know that everything had gone well and thanking him for permitting such an officer to join with his force.

"_I don't know who it was you talked to, but I can honestly tell you, that it wasn't me. I wasn't even on KO-35 at that time; I was attending the Galactic Alliance Summit on __Mirinoi."_

Lucas could see the Captain's eyes locking right on him from the screen.

" _Don't you remember you were supposed to attend, but your wife and daughter had gotten into a traffic accident the week before and you sent Micha Burg in your place."_

_That's right. _He couldn't believe it He didn't want to, but he knew damn well that Captain Blanka was right. _How could he have been so stupid?_ He had recalled thinking it was strange that Blanka wasn't at the Galactic Alliance Summit, but never thought twice about asking why he wasn't there. Especially when he was supposed to attend himself, but had to back out after his wife and daughter ended up in the hospital. They hadn't been hurt that bad, but he just couldn't bring himself to spend a whole week away from the planet.

That was when this eerie feeling came over him, in some ways it almost felt sinister somehow, but it only added more to the fact that O'Connor had planned all of this from the beginning, from the transfer records straight to today.

"…But if it wasn't you that I spoke with, then who was it?" It was a video conference call. It was Captain Blanka's face that he had seen and his voice. It didn't make any since. Who was it that he spoke with? And how were they able to look and sound just like the Captain?

_"I can assure you I will help you in anyways that I can," annouched the General, as he looked over his copy of the transfer records. "We'll get to the bottom of this."_

"Thank you, sir." Lucas closed the link between the earth and KO-35 base. He ran his hand over his face as he felt a headache start to cave in, just as a shadow walked up behind him.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes." He turned around to face the young man before him his eyes centering right on him. "I need you tell me what O'Connor and you did that led up to him taking off in the time ship?" His tone was a bit forceful, with Blanka not able to provide any answers that only left one person.

"Wh-what's this about?" he asked. "Did you find out something?"

"_First!_ I need to know if you know anything?" he crossed his arms against his chest, not taking his eyes off the man before. He knew it was very common for officers to protect their partners. …Even back when he was a rookie had done it himself, but things were different now he wasn't some rookie cop, he was the Captain now.

The young man seemed stunned by the Captains behavior towards him, treating him as though he was in for questioning for some crime that had taken place. "Am I under arrest?" he asked, getting slightly defensive. "Do you think I knew what he was planning on doing? Do you think I helped him?" He got right into the Captains face not bating an eye. "If you think that, then you must not know me at all." He would have thought that after ten years after being with Time Force that the Captain would know him better, but perhaps he was wrong. Maybe twenty-eight years didn't mean anything.

_I'm such an idiot._ Lucas sighed heavily. "You're right. I'm sorry…" he gripped the young mans shoulder, giving him a faint smile. He would have thought after ten years he would have gotten used to this, but he hadn't.

The young man nodded his head understandingly. They both knew ten years ago after he had joined the force and after he had been promoted to Captain, that it would be an adjustment for the both of them, so much so that there was even talk about him transferring to a different academy, but after a lot of thinking he decided this was the place he wanted to be at.

"This day has just been really stressful, that I don't know what to think or what I'm doing anymore."

"He was my friend too you know…" He knew that his father had thought a lot of Gage and that today with everything that had happened, that all changed. Jared didn't know everything his father had learned, but he imagined it wasn't good news, by the look on his fathers face and the way he came at him questioning him. He could tell that it was really breaking his father apart inside.

"…Yeah," he replied softly, a part of him wished that today never had happened. That he didn't know the things he knows now. He just wanted to go back to before, back to when he thought he had known who Gage O'Connor was, but he couldn't go back. He would have to go ahead and find out the truth, no matter how difficult that would be.

After a few moment of silence, Jared finally spoke up. "I don't know if it's important, but there is one thing…"


	3. Questions Arise part 2

"You're sure it was Tri-Ville Cemetery that you took him to?" asked Lucas as he faced his twenty-eight year old son. Only a few hours ago Jared's partner Sgt. Gage O'Connor had taken one of their time ships and traveled through time. Where and why, they didn't know. Lucas's only lead was anything that Gage O'Connor had done in the hours prior to him taking the time ship will provide some clues as to what his plans are and just maybe who he really is.

Right now, they had nothing. No answers. No reasons. Only questions, questions that needed answers. Why would he have entered in a code to block communication along with preventing anyone from assisting him? _He didn't want to be found. He didn't want to be stopped._ Those were the only reasons Captain Kendal could come up with. Just what was O'Connor up too? And that scared him more then anything, not knowing what his motives were. There were just so many questions, so many things that didn't add up.

_More importantly how did he even know such a code?_ A code he has no information on, never even heard of. Not even his top Computer Program Techs could make much sense of it. All they knew was the code had long ago been imprinted into the system, maybe even long before any of them had ever joined Time Force. Right now the only conclusion the fifty-two year old Captain was coming to face was his top officer, was not who he thought he was. He had been deceived in more ways then one. …And maybe that's what bothered him the most about this whole situation. Gage O'Connor wasn't who he had thought he was or who he had claimed to be. It had all been a lie; anything O'Connor had ever told him …none of it was true. How could he begin to uncover what O'Connor's motive is if everything he knew about him was all a lie?

With no answers, the only one he could turn to was his son, who had been one of the last to see Gage O'Connor. He wanted to know how their day had started out, what they had eaten, where they had gone, their routes, what they had talked about, but nothing seemed out of ordinary …until now.

"Yeah. I'm positive," exclaimed Jared. "I practically drove him here every couple of months." There was no possible way he could have confused it for another cemetery. This was the place where he had taken O'Connor before they had headed back to the base.

"Did you ever go with him to visit the grave?"

"No." He answered shaking his head. "He insisted that he go alone." He had always tried to go with him at first just for the support, but after his continually refusal of it. It became more out of curiosity that he would ask. "Hell I don't even know who he was visiting there, if he was visiting anyone." Gage would never say whose grave he was going to and even when he asked, Gage never would give him an answer. For all Jared knew, Gage could have just liked stalking about in graves.

"How'd he seem when he came back to the car?" He couldn't be sure how a cemetery fit in, but he had no other leads to check into. He knew this may be his only chance at finding some answers.

"…Distant," Jared answered, as he thought back to earlier in the day when Gage had returned back from seeing the grave. "But he was always distant, never wanted to talk about it." Nothing about this trip to the cemetery seemed out of ordinary to him, it was no more different then any of the other times. Gage acted as he always had.

"_So how was who you went to see?" asked Jared, as his partner got back into the car._

"_Same as always," he answered, as he clipped his seatbelt on. "Dead…"_

"After that he didn't say a word. One time I did ask him if it was a family member or a friend he was visiting, but he never would tell me."

Captain Kendal nodded his head in agreement, that was one of the reason why his daughter had broken up with Gage, for his refusal to ever open up to her. Even he was a witness to O'Connor wanting to keep his life outside of Time Force private. It wasn't something that was uncommon, but at times it did seem that he put a whole new level on privacy. "How much do you know about this cemetery?"

"Where's this going?" asked Jared. "It's just a cemetery, a fairly old one from the looks of it." It wasn't like most of the other cemetery's he had been at, this one seemed old fashion with the grave stones, versus the holographic that most people use today.

"Do you know how old?"

"No," he answered, as he crossed his arms against chest. "But I bet your going to tell me."

"You can't see the date anymore," he pointed over to the old sign that had pretty much faded away, you could barely even see Tri-Ville Cemetery on it. "It faded away overtime hundreds of years ago, but you can find a story behind it, a tragedy really. The land was bought in 2150, after a private family plane exploded on their way to a family reunion."

"Wait?" he now knew what his father was referring to. "You're talking about _that_ plane explosion? The one that terrorist rigged the plane with a bunch of explosives? That killed a whole generations of people."

"Yes. That would be the one."

"I remember reading something about that in The Worlds Greatest Unsolved Mysteries. …. I didn't know that this commentary belonged to them."

"Many don't. It was over a hundred years ago, most don't care about a plane crash from hundreds of year ago." Even he himself didn't learn until years later. "….There was a lot of conspiracy involved around the crash. There were some who believed that it wasn't all galactic-terrorist, they believed that a secret branch of the government may have been involved. Even after all these years it's still a mystery as to what really happened."

"And I don't suppose Time Force, ever thought about finding out."

Lucas grinned at that, there were times when Time Force had used time travel to uncover secrets and unsolved mysteries, even ones from hundreds of year ago. They could never interfere, only observe. If they did it could alter future events or even worse destroy the future they had created. It was also one of the reason why it was established that an officer who was to travel through time, that after giving their detailed report that were to proceed with memory adaptation. It would erase their memories from their mission …however there have been few cases where some officers had been dismissed from the procedure

"For reasons I don't know, this incident was placed in a 'no travel zone' around the time when Time Force was first established and it still stands today."

"Why would someone who was born hundreds of years later, care if the truth about a plane crash came out?" It just made no sense. What harm would it do knowing the truth hundreds of years later? Everyone had died in the crash. There would be no one that could be harmed from the truth being known.

"I don't know, but someone didn't want the truth to be known," answered Lucas. "All that anyone really knew was everyone on board was killed. In a manner of seconds whole generations had been lost, lives had been cut too short." He paused for a moment, as if he were taking a minute to honor those that had died in the crash. Death was never an easy thing to accept, especially when it came to those that had been too young. He coughed snapping himself out of his thoughts. "…Anyways it was said a relative who hadn't been on the plane bought the land, as a memorial to them."

"Gage had to have been visiting someone he knew who's buried here."

"Not likely." He shook his head, as he got out of the car. "No one has been buried here in over eight hundred years. In fact they were the only one to be buried." He shut the car door and started up the path. "Come on; let's see if we can find the grave he was going to see. Maybe there will be some clues."

The two walked through the old family gravesite. It wasn't too difficult to locate the grave that O'Connor had visited. It was the only one with a fresh rose, the others had roses, but they appeared to have been there for some time.

It was then something accord to Lucas, this was not the first time he had been to this cemetery. He had known the story, but up until now he had always thought he had never been here, but in fact he had. His surroundings, reminded him of a long forgotten childhood memory.

He might have been five or six at the time, to say the least that was over forty five years ago. "I've seen this before," he exclaimed softly, as he looked around, seeing the old roses and then the one fresh rose.

**2985**

_He had been and his friend Dash has been playing in the park and on their way home they had to pass by the Tri-Ville Cemetery._

"_Come on Lucas, let's go explore," exclaimed Dash, giving a smirk. "..Unless you're scared."_

"_I'm not scared of nothing!" claimed Lucas, as he crossed his arms against his chest._

"_Good, I'll race yah!" Dash took a head started and dashed into the entrance of the cemetery._

'"_Hey! No fair Dash!" yelled out Lucas, as he started out after him. Young Lucas was just about to catch up when Dash came to a dead stop causing Lucas to run right into him. Both boys fell hard to the ground. "Why'd y-you-"_

_Dash quickly covered Lucas's mouth and pointed in a direction several feet ahead of them where a young man in a Time Force uniform stood in front of a grave a holding a rose in his hand. Dash looked Lucas's firmly in the eyes, making sure that his friend would remain quite._

_Lucas nodded his head. When his mouth was finally free, he whispered. "Isn't that Lt. Colin Jennings?"_

_Dash nodded his head. Every kid knew who Colin Jennings was. He was always in the news about some big arrest he had made. "Wonder what he's doing here, no one ever comes here?"_

"_Looks like he's paying his respects."_

"_To who, this place is older then everyone that's alive?"_

_Lucas had to agree it was rather odd, but he didn't know what to make of it. The two remained hidden behind some bushes, until after Lt. Jennings had left, before they both headed home. Neither of them had ever spoken of what they had seen, not to anyone, not even each other._

"What ever happened to him?"

"A few months later, he left Time Force, transferred somewhere, as far as I can remember no one ever saw him again." He had been pretty young at the time. All he could remember were bits and pieces from his parents talking about what they had read in the paper and after more time passed no one ever really talked about Colin Jennings. It was as if he just vanished.

"Do you think that Gage and this Jennings guy are somehow connected?" asked Jared, trying to tie things together. Both men had places roses on eight hundred year old unmarked graves. It seemed unlikely two people who had nothing to do with each other would do the exact same thing. There had to be a connection somewhere.

"I don't even know if Jennings is still alive."

"Do you know someone that would?"

Lucas thought about it for a moment, trying this think of someone who he knew that may know what happened to Colin Jennings. And then it came to him it maybe a long shot, but it was the only person who came to his mind. "…There's only one person I know of that may."

"Who?"

"James Logan, I think both were at Time Force around the same time." But even if Logan knew something about what happened to Jennings he wasn't sure if even that would be enough. In the pit of his stomach, Lucas felt that this was something big that he had stumbled upon. Bigger then anything he has ever been faced with before, but what he didn't know. "…I'm going to check around here, you go over there and see if you can find anything."

While he looked over the grave with the fresh rose, Jared walked around trying to find anything that would give them some answers, as to what O'Connor was up to. The former blue ranger, turned Captain picked up the rose and sniffed the beautiful colored rose. A strange feeling came over him, the scent of the rose brought an over whelming feeling over him. He was sure he had smelled the rose before, but he couldn't recall where or when. This was a very rare colored rose, one that you can't simply buy from any flower shop. It was special. Rare. _Where have I smelt you?_

"…Sir! –Hey pops!"

Lucas snapped out of his thoughts and turned in the direction his son had been calling him from. "What is it?" he called out to his son, as he walked up to him.

Jared looked at his dad strangely. "I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes," he exclaimed. He could tell that all of this was troubling his father and he couldn't blame him, he was pretty troubled to, He and Gage had been friends, _brothers_ …or at least he thought they were friends. "Are you okay, dad? Maybe, we should-"

"-I'm fine," he answered, as he put the rose down. "Did you find something?"

"Yeah, I did." He pointed to the grave stone in front of him. "Now you tell me why out of all the graves is this _one_ the only one without a rose?"

Normally for a cemetery as old as this one, it wouldn't seem strange not to have a flower on a grave stone, but with all the other graves each having one. It was strange that this one did not. Why would Gage O'Connor, never have put one of this grave? There had to be a reason. "Who do you think it is?" he heard his son ask him.

"I wish I knew." Lucas bit his lip. "But none of the graves were ever marked."

Jared continued to stare at the grave. "Wait…" he reached with his hand and began brushing some moss off the grave. It wasn't much, but he did uncover something. "What the hell is that?" All he could make of it was it was some strange symbol that he had never seen before.

Lucas glared at it. "It's the kanji symbol for 'sacrifice.'"

"When did you learn to read Japanese?"

"Long time ago back when I was racing, while I was waiting on my turn for the time trials." He turned to his son. "Not bad for me being more then a little rusty."

"Why would someone have that inscripted in the grave?" he asked. "Call me old fashion, but shouldn't it say something more meaningful?"

"It should," agreed Lucas. "…Unless, your trying to hide something."

"So were back to the whole conspiracy thing?"

"Maybe, maybe not, but someone didn't want their real names placed on the graves." Like the original founders of Time Force didn't want the truth of the explosion of the plane crash to be uncovered.

"But why?" It didn't make any since. "Everyone on board died. What would it matter to place their names on the grave?" Or maybe it did make since, but they were missing the piece of the puzzle that tied it all together. What weren't they seeing?

"Oh it matters." Lucas knew someone did this for a reason, there was always a reason. "Someone made sure of it." He bent down and picked up the rose he set down. "Come on; let's see what symbol is on the grave that Gage had been looking at."

Lucas careful brushed the moss off the grave. There was no name, just like the other one just the symbol. His heart about skipped a beat when he released what it said. He was more then a little shaken by it. "Yeah. It's just… The symbols mean 'warning'."

"Warning?" Well that's comforting," answered Jared sarcastically. "Why do you think these symbols are here?" They have to be there for something? Why have them there if they don't mean anything?

"I think anyone that could have answered that is long dead.'

Jared turned to him "But why would someone go to so much trouble to hide the identity of everyone that had died in the crash and even more so, why would Time Force hundreds of years after it all happened want to keep it hidden?"

"Why indeed?" What was it about this that could never be known, not even after all of these years? Lucas didn't know, but he was sure that somehow Gage O'Connor and even Collin Jennings fit in somewhere. He just wasn't sure how. He bent down picking up the rose that Gage had placed their earlier, their only clue.

Jared stared at the rose; he never knew where Gage had gotten the rose. He always already had one on hand. The rose had to mean something. And that's when something accord to him. His hearting began racing. He had thought it early on when he had seen the roses placed around, but has pushed the idea away, not wanting to believe that Gage had betrayed them. "What if the roses weren't used as the typically grave visitor?"

"Meaning?"

"What if they were place markers? What if Gage and this Jennings guy were looking for something?" he exclaimed. "You said so yourself only one person was buried here. That would leave more then enough room to bury something else."

"Shit! You're right," he could feel his heart drop a beat, because his son may have just hit onto something. Colin Jennings had left earth forty-seven years ago just out of the blue, months after he had seen him at this cemetery with the roses arranged as they are now. "The question now is what were they looking for?"

"…If Gage didn't already find it," replied Jared, as he and his father shared concerned looks with each other.


	4. Meeting The Family

**2031**

"They're going to ask questions," annouched Jen, as Gage parked her car into her spot in the parking garage of Bio-Lab. She knew that people…._primarily her son _was going to ask who the young man with her was. Why was he here and where had he come from? There were only a select few that knew the truth about her and where she had come from. Mike Zaskins was one of them, and then just a few Silver Guardians that had been there from the beginning. Other then those few, no one else knew that she had come to the future thirty years ago and had fallen in love with a man not of her own time.

It wasn't exactly information she wanted to have to get out there. If the knowledge of time travel fell into the wrong hands the results could be disastrous. Catastrophic. There was no telling what could happen. It was a secret that the first Silver Guardians had to take an oath never to tell another living sole, a secret that must be taken to the grave. Not even her own children could know the truth, it was a decision both Wes and she had decided that it would be best not to tell them, as that type of information could be dangerous to them. "Who am I supposed to say you are?"

"You're a smart woman." Gage turned to her with a smile, as he shut off the engine. He already knew that the truth was the last thing she would tell, because her whole life here had to be based on a lie to protect her existence here. "I'm sure you'll come up with something." Gage knew Jen would do everything within her power to keep who he really was secret, as she wouldn't want to drawl any attention to herself, as that would only lead to the truth about her coming out. "You could say I'm your _hot_ young boyfriend," he replied handing back her keys with a grin

Jen clenched her fist together, this guy was pushing her every button. And the thing that pissed her off the most was he was doing it intentionally. She could just tell by the way he spoke, the look in her eyes, which was in no way helping him gain her trust. "Don't press your luck, junior!" Jen smacked. "You're not much older then my sons."

"You defiantly know how to shoot a guy's ego down." Acting like he was hurt by her answer. "…Besides I was just joking," he laughed. "Anyone ever tell you that you're too serious?"

Jen frowned at him. "Anyone ever tell you that your annoying-jackass!"

"Ouch!" he exclaimed. "You know most girls usually love my charm."

"I'm not most girls," remarked Jen sharply giving the young man a hard stern look, a look a mother would likely give to her misbehaving child. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to use your manners?"

"So, that's what those things were?" he replied sarcastically, as he snapped his fingers. "And I thought she just enjoyed yelling at me."

"You're not as funny as you think you are. My husband was funny." She knew funny, although perhaps there was a time when she would have told Wes the exact same thing. Although the young man before her childish behavior was nothing like her late husbands. It had just come naturally to Wes to be a little childish, Gage was deliberately being childish and seemed to enjoy getting a rile out of the person it was directed at. "You're leaning towards more an irritating egoistical bastard."

"_Irritating egoistical bastard_," he quoted, as if he enjoyed toying with her. "Not bad. I've been called worse though." He dropped his sunglasses down staring her right in the eyes. "Come on, you can up it up a notch, I'm sure there is a lot more things you _want_ to call me," he toyed with her.

"You're unbelievable!" exclaimed Jen, as she stormed out of her car fed up with his behavior. She started to march towards the elevator just wanting to get as far away from Gage O'Connor that she could. Unfortunately she wouldn't get far, as a young boy was running right towards her having just come from the elevator.

"Grandma!" shouted Ryan, as he jumped into her arms. "Uncle Griffin and I were just about to go look for you."

"You said you'd be back here over an hour ago," said Griffin, as he walked up to his mother. "We were starting to worry, especially when you didn't answer your cell."

Jen held her grandson in her arms happy for the distraction to take her mind off Gage, for however short of time it was. "Oh I-"

"That's my fault," answered Gage, as he got out of the car and headed towards the three. "I made a wrong turn and we were stuck in traffic jam. Sorry,"

"Oh…" Griffin remarked, but quickly realized he had no idea who the young man before him was. When his mother had left to go visit the commentary she had gone alone and didn't mention that she was going to be meeting with anyone or bringing someone back with him. "Who are you?" It wasn't a harsh tone, but it defiantly was meant to be protective. He had taken one look at his mother and could see that she was frustrated and didn't appear pleased by the man being there.

"Oh excuse me," Gage exclaimed, as he walked up to Griffin and firmly shook his hand. He took off his sunglasses hanging them on the collar of his shirt. "I'm Gage O'Connor, a distant cousin to your mother's side of the family all the way from Michigan. I'm here on business."

"I didn't know we had family in Michigan?" Griffin looked over to his mother waiting for her response, as far as he could remember his mother never talked about having family in Michigan, yet alone anywhere. She had no brothers or sisters and her parents had died years before she had even married his father. It seemed odd to him that a relative would show up out of nowhere annouched.

_That makes two of us. _Jen hated lying to her son, but then again most of everything he knew about her past was nothing, but a lie. A lie she had to come up with to not only protect herself, but her children. Who she had been, where she had come from, he could never know the truth. It be too much of a risk, too much of a danger.

"Yes. I haven't seen any of them since I was just out of school, before I meant your father. Over the years we all lost touch," replied Jen, it wasn't so much a lie. The statement was true; Gage just wasn't part of it. She had left family behind when she decided to come here and be with Wes. She had left behind her aunt, two uncles and a number of cousins.

Until that moment she hadn't thought about them for years. She had never told them that she had fallen in love with Wes Collins. They didn't even know who he was... Even when she explained why she and Alex had broken up, she had just said they were two different people now and had grown apart. They think she's dead now and technically a thousand years in the future she is, but what they don't know is she is living her life here in the twenty-first century.

It had been difficult having to leave them behind, more then she wanted to admit. She had wanted to tell them what she was doing, but she couldn't. Even if they understood why, it would be too much of a risk for them to know, as cruel and selfish as it was, it was better for them believing she had died while on her mission.

Griffin appeared to accept his mother's answer, due to the hint of sadness in her voice, as if she regretted losing touch with her distant relatives. He turned back to Gage, looking the young man in the eyes. There was just something about him, something he couldn't explain. Something familiar. It was a feeling he couldn't place, a part of him felt that somehow he should know the man before him, but at the same time he knew that wasn't true. Until today he had never laid eyes upon Gage O'Connor. "Sorry, but have we meant before?"

"Not likely," answered Gage. "Maybe I just remind you of your mother, after all were distant relatives."

"Yeah. You're probably, right." It was a reasonable answer. He had never been to Michigan and he doesn't know anyone named Gage or anyone with the last name O'Connor. It's not unheard of for family to have a since of connection with each other, so he decided just to leave it at that. _Perhaps, he was just thinking too much into his ability. _"…So Gage, what type of business are you here for?"

"I'm afraid I cannot answer that?"

"And why not?" remarked Griffin sharply, crossing his arms against his chest. Maybe that gut feeling he had inside of him was a lack of trust. There was just something about this guy that didn't fit, too many loose ends. "And now that I think about it, how'd you end up in my mother's car since no one has been in touch for over twenty years?"

_Damn! Why did he have to be so good at being observant_? Undoubtingly, it was due to her son's genetic ability. Griffin was able to find people just by thinking about them, he had even developed to be able to anticipate ones movements which made him a tough sparing opponent and now that ability seemed to be progressing his awareness onto a whole new level.

Jen was sure that Gage would have no problem at coming up with something, but she was concerned that with Griffin abilities that he may uncover the truth about who Gage O'Connor really was and where he had come from. And if that happened she would no longer be able to hide the truth from him.

_He's good. _Gage had to admit that Griffin, aka Wes Collins Jr. knew just what questions to ask. He was going to have to be careful around him, especially since unlike Jen he had no clue about time travel or Time Force. "I was at the commentary visiting an old family friend and your mother just so happened to be there. We got to talking and released I was her mother's cousins grandson." It wasn't exactly the best answer he could have given, but it was the simplest and sometime simple is the best way to go.

"A bit of a conquidence don't you think?" Griffin didn't take his eyes off of Gage, as he moved closer to him neck and neck. "Running into her at the cemetery of all places?"

"And I thought it was fate that brought me there," remarked Gage, as he stared Griffin down letter him know full well that he was not the type to be intimidated.

"Alright, that's enough you two!" exclaimed Jen, knowing that she better break the two up, before one of them makes matters worse. She gave Gage a stern look, letting him know not to push her son any further, before she turned to her. "Were all family here, so let's get along."

"I think that's a great idea," annouched Gage, playing along. "Don't you think Griff?"

Griffin took one look at his mother and knew better then to object. His eyes met with Gage once again. "Sure, why not," he smirked. "It'll be a blast." With that said Griffin turned away and started towards the elevator. He would play nice now, but he still didn't hundred percent trust Gage. There was just this feeling inside of him that he couldn't shake off. He was just going to have to keep an eye of Gage without his mother knowing. One way or another he was going to find out what he was doing here.

"What!" exclaimed Gage, seeing the look she that was on her face. "And you thought my mother didn't teach me matters."

Jen was about to say something, until Ryan jumped out of her arms onto the ground. "Hi I'm Ryan!" he annouched holding his hand up to the man.

Gage smiled, as he knelt down to the young boy. He was more then happy to have the interruption from Jen getting on his case. "Hey there Ryan nice to meet you, I'm Gage," he replied, as he shook the boys hand.

"Hey I bet you work for some top secret place and that's why you can't tell Griffin why you're here."

Gage got a chuckle out of that. "You know Ryan, your one smart kid for a seven year old."

"I'm not seven, I'm _five_," he annouched proudly.

"Even better…" Gage raised his eyes up knowing that Jen was watching him like a hawk. "So you're here visiting your grandma and uncle Griffin?"

"Yeah my dad and mom went to some beach resort. They're not married, but they might be someday. I hope so, anyways." The young boy really did want his parents to be together. He wanted to be able to wake up and have both parents in the home and not just one.

. "I'm sure, it'll all work out." Gage gripped the boys shoulder. "Hey how' bout you hop onto my back and show me around…" He heard Jen cough. "-If that's okay with your grandma," said Gage looking up at Jen.

"Can I?" asked Ryan, as he turned to her. "Please, I promise not to give Gage any trouble."

Ryan giving trouble to Gage was the last thing she was worried about. It was more the other way around. "I don't know sweetie," Jen answered, as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I think Gage, has something he needs to take care of." She hinted, referring to what had happened to them in the commentary.

"Oh it can wait; it's no trouble at all," replied Gage. "Besides it'll give me a chance to get to know the little guy."

"Yeah!" Ryan jumped excitedly, as he jumped onto Gages back and held on tight.

"We'll meet you in your office in a bit," said Gage, as he got to his feet.

"What do you think your doing?" asked Jen silently, as she crossed her arms against her chest.

"Getting the grand tour from my young companion. You're welcome to join us."

"Come on Gage, let's go," called out Ryan from on top of his shoulders.

Gage only winked at Jen, as he turned around and headed towards the elevator. Jen sighed heavily, as she followed behind them. She was beginning to wonder if this was a _big_ mistake. It seemed that Gage was no longer concerned about the person who had been shooting at them or if he was concerned, he had a hell of a way at showing it.

* * *

_What are you up to, Wic? _It had only been a couple of hours sense he had seen him fleeing away with a woman, Jennifer Collins. He had been able to identify the woman thanks to the name on the grave stone, Wesley Collins. It hadn't been too difficult, a quick Google search and _bingo_. His eyes narrowed in on the computer screen, as he bought up news articles about Bio-Lab, the research and organizations they were involved with and all of its founders. He even found an article involving the death of the late Wesley Collins who had died back in 2010. The man knew whatever Wic's business with Bio-lab and Jennifer Collins, couldn't be good.

"Bio-Lab huh?" asked the young kid, as he bought the man the cup coffee he had ordered. "They're pretty big around here." Bio-Lab was a house hold name there wasn't a person in all of Silver Hills or California that hadn't heard about Bio-Lab. It was one of the biggest benefactors in medical research as well as enhancing the world's defensives against attacks both human and alien.

The man in his late forties didn't appear pleased to have anyone getting in his business. He turned taking his coffee from the kid eyeing him cautiously, as if he couldn't be trusted. In his line of work, you can never be too careful. "It would be wise for you to keep your eyes off from where they're not wanted…," eyeing his name tag. "_Brad_."

"You some sort of cop?"

The man took a sip of his coffee. _What is it with young people not being able to mind their own business? _"Do you question all your costumers, so intensely Brad?" The last thing he needed was some curiosity-crazed kid getting in his way. Too much was at stake, all that mattered finding Wic and doing what he should have done a long time ago.

"No," he answered. "It's just… some of the other customers, were beginning to become concerned. You were typing pretty fast on the keyboard and your body language seemed a bit erratic." Not to mention the fact that he was dressed like he was a hit man. The guy had raised heads the moment he stepped foot inside.

The man scanned the small Internet Café and caught glimpses of the other customers eyeing him worriedly. _You're scared of me? You fools have no idea what being scared really is. _He then turned his eyes back to Brad giving him a faint almost chilling smile. "I'll be finished with my coffee soon and then I'll be on my way. That should satisfy everyone, correct?"

Brad was a little taken back by the man response, in some way it felt a little bit creepy. "Ah…Yes. Th-thank you, for understanding."

"No problem," he grinned, as he turned back to the computer.

"You're like one of those undercover cops, right."

"Be careful Brad, curiosity killed the cat. I would keep that in mind the next time you are thinking about prying into someone's business."

Brad felt a shiver go done his spine, as he looked into the older mans eyes. The guy defiantly had to be some high level secret agent or something like that. Every bone in his young body was shaking. "Right," he answered shakily. "I-I'll remember that for in the future…"

"I'm sure you will," he remarked sharply, as he turned back to the computer screen bringing up more news articles about Bio-Lab, Jennifer Collin and anything that was linked to them. In a few articles two names kept popping up Schulyer Tate Collins and Wesley Collins Jr., no doubtingly the two sons of Jennifer Collins. Schulyer the oldest, a red ranger for Space Patrol Delta and Wesley Jr, who goes by Griffin works at Bio-Lab, partaking with the Silver Guardians. He began reading everything he could find about the two young men, as if he believed it would come in handy at some point to him.

"Your time is coming Wic, you can only hide for so long," he muttered under his breath. "You will pay for your sins, starting with what you took from me_…_"

The man eyes just glowed as he read up on everything he could find about the Collins family. His eyes seemed to glow with every word he read. Once he was done he stood up and made his way over to Brad who was ringing up a customer. "Brad I need to ask one more thing of you and then I'll be on my way."

Brad could only imagine what he was going to ask him, but he really wanted to get this guy out of here as soon as possible, before he scared anyone else away. "What do you need; a coffee to go?"

"Oh no, I just need to make a phone call. I seemed to have misplaced my cellphone."

* * *

"Hey Grandma," exclaimed Ryan, as he ran into her office over to her desk. "Don't I look cool? Gage gave me his sunglasses."

Jen smiled at her grandson, it hadn't even been a full year yet since he had come into her life and she has loved every moment of it. He looked a lot like Sky did when he was five, but happier. Ryan still had the innocence of a child, pure of heart. Jen hoped that her grandson would have that for many more years, unlike her son. Sky had been five when Wes had been killed and all that innocents Sky had had died with his father. "You look very cool," she answered.

Her eyes met with Gage who was standing at her office entrance. There was still much they needed to discuss with each other. Questions that needed answers, answers she wasn't sure that Gage would give. "Hey Ryan," she said, as she gently placed her hands on his shoulders. "Gage and I need to talk about some things, so could you be a big boy and go down to the Silver Guardian gym. Griffin will take you back to the mansion and get you some dinner."

"..Oh okay," answered Ryan, a bit disappointed.

"Thank you," Jen kissed his on the cheek. "I'll see you when I get home."

Ryan quickly hugged her before making his way to the entrance. "I'll see you later, right?"

"Don't worry Ry, I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to my new best friend," he replied winking at the young boy.

"Okay good," answered Ryan, as he happily left the room.

Gage waited until Ryan turned down the next hall before turning back to face Jen. "You're giving me that look again," he annouched, as he walked into her office closing the door behind him. "If you're worried about the sunglasses don't. They're standard issue, nothing special about them. He took a seat across from her. "Unless you want to count the dead body I picked them off of."

"Very funny," she answered flatly, not at all amused.

"I'm serious."

"You expect me to believe you stole a dead mans sunglasses."

"He was dead, what was he going to do with them?" Gage got a chuckle out of each expression on her face, as she contemplated whether to believe him or not. "I'm kidding," he finally admitted. He waited for a sigh of relief to show on her face before answering. "Maybe."

"Okay enough with the games, let's get back to business."

"Business?" he questioned her. "…Oh, the thing that the cemetery."

"Yeah that," exclaimed Jen. "You would think someone wouldn't forget being shot at." She was more then a little annoyed. He didn't appear at all concerned about the whole situation.

"Don't worry I have it all undercontrol," he annouched, as he leaned back against the chair relaxing. "So just enjoy spending time with your grandson."

Jen didn't know if she should be concerned or relieved, but for now she wouldn't worry about it. Sooner or later she would get to the bottom of it. Right now there was only one thing playing over and over in her mind and she knew it wouldn't stop until she learned the whole story. "Do you know how he died?" she asked him. "I know you said in an explosion, but I need to know more then that."

"We talking about Alex Drake now?" he asked, at one point her turned away from her looking over at the walls. He didn't appear to be staring at anything in particular. It was almost as if he didn't want to look her in the eyes, as if the conversation made him slightly uncomfortable. "That was over twenty years ago," he annouched, as he turned back to face her. "I wasn't even on earth when it happened."

But surely you know what happened. Someone at Time Force would have told you or you may have read about it."

Gage licked his lips. "Why such interest in him? I told you that Lucas Kendal was the Captain at Time Force and you didn't so much bat an eye, but all you want to do is talk about some died guy."

"Lucas and I were good friends, but it was different with Alex."

"Why?" he questioned her looking her deep in the eyes. "…Oh that's right," he nodded his head, as if the light had gone on inside it. "You were engaged to him, before you met your husband."

"Yeah," Jen answered softly.

Gage nodded his head now understanding why she wanted to know what happened to Alex. "If you don't mind me asking what happened?" I mean other then the obvious."

"I think we just grew apart, we weren't the same two people who had fallen in love with each other." She was surprised at how much it panged her heart talking about it. Alex and she never had really talked about it, they just had gone their separate ways, leaving things unresolved. "And at time there was this whole different side of him, one minute he was this great guy and the next it was like he was pushing me away." She could feel tears coming on, but she held them back not wanting to break down in front of Gage. She refused to do that. "I just want to know what happened."

Gage sighed heavily. He knew it wouldn't hurt anything telling her how Alex Drake had died. No harm would come from it. "I was told he had gone into a burning building, a daycare. It had been taken hostage a lot of important people children attended the daycare and they has set explosives. Alex was the first officer on scene, he had gotten all the children out, but one. The man has taken a young boy hostage for nearly an hour Alex talked to the man and was finally able to get him to release the boy, just moments after the boy was safely out of the building the man had ignited the explosives, both him and Alex died instantly."

Jen couldn't help it, as a few tears trickled down her cheek. "Why would he have done that?"

Gage shook his head. "No one knows. It was just believed that the man may have been after Alex Drake from the beginning and was just using the kids to get to him."

Jen nodded her head. It was exactly the answer she wanted, but it was the only one she would get. Alex had made his fair share of enemies in his line of work. He had arrested hundreds of criminals anyone of them would have good reason for wanting to get back at him, even at the cost of their own life. "Thank you, for telling me."

Gage didn't answer just nodded his head giving her a faint smile.


End file.
